Nick made it to IFF's Offices in one piece, which was a victory, considering he'd just walked two miles during an unusually hot mid-autumn day.
He took a second to remove his ID from the suit pocket where it had had fallen, and when he raised his eyes, a female figure was leaning on the wall.
Francine lifted her shirt cuff to look at her watch. "It's eight-forty."
"I can see that." Nick pointed at the wall clock behind her.
"You're late."
"Again, i can see that."
She huffed, gesturing for him to follow her. They entered a hallway, making their way through the intricate maze leading to the back of the building.
Francine took in Nick's appearance as he stepped beside her. He was wearing dark sunglasses and his dark hair were tousled, with a loose strand hanging from one side.
"You look rough. What happened to you?"
"I was out with a lady friend last night, if you must know. A delightful woman named Janice." He sighed wistfully, lost in his own thoughts. "We dined at a quaint italian restaurant, strolled down the Potomac in the moonlight and topped it off with a nightcap at her place. The perfect evening ... well, almost."
"Almost?"
"Her husband decided to cut his business trip short."
Francine rolled her eyes. "Of course."
"So, I had to walk here, since she was my ride."
"You couldn't catch a cab?"
"Francine, do i look like a man who carries cash?"
"I don't even know what that means." she came to a screeching halt in front of a big red exit door guarded by security. "Just don't be late again, ok?"
The sun outside felt even stronger and hotter than before after an hour inside an air conditioned environment. Francine shielded her eyes as a ray hit a foil package left littering on the concrete by some uncivilized soul, shooting straight on her retinas and leaving colored dots dancing in front of her. She poked into her purse looking for her sunglasses, but of course, she had left them in the car. Just her luck.
"Here!" Nick honked from one of the golf carts parked on the far side of the lot, gathering her attention. She swore she couldn't turn for a second, and he was gone like a damn child! She was never especially fond of children, and now she was stuck playing cops and robbers with a juvenile conman. Granted, an extremely handsome and charming conman, but still, what a nuisance he could be.
She skittered towards the cart as fast as her heels allowed her and hopped into the vehicle, pushing Nick out of the way to replace him in the driving seat.
"What," Nick tried to joke, "Do you need a special license to drive a golf cart in the States?"
"Ha-ha, very funny." she deadpanned, clearly unamused.
They took off, the light wind caused by the cart's motion a welcome relief.
"Just thought I'd bring some levity."
Her mouth didn't move by the slightest.
Nick sank slightly into the seat. "So, we're not doing that, uh?"
"I don't know what that is, but I'd edge my bets on no."
They rode around a large building that to civilians may have appeared as a soundstage, but actually housed several of IFF's most recent offices, including their newly founded white collar crime division. The cart came to a halt next to a small set of stairs, and before Francine could step out of the vehicle, Nick was already by her side, offering her his hand.
She thanked him, surprised by the kind gesture.
They quickly moved into the building past a small hallway, and into a supply closet that much like one in the main IFF building, was actually a secret elevator.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're terribly stuck-up?" Nick questioned, as Francine pushed the third floor button.
She turned around, staring at him wide-eyed, her blue eyes fired up. "Has anyone ever told you that you're too brazen for your own good?"
"Constantly."
"Good."
They rode in silence for a few seconds, before Francine spoke up again.
"I'm not stuck up." she stressed. "I'm plenty of fun. I'll have you known, there's several federal agents and some KGB operatives that could attest to that. You clearly don't know me at all."
"Perhaps we could change that?" Nick raised a hopeful eyebrow in her direction.
Damn it, the man was relentless. The last thing she needed to do was entertaining Nick's continuous passes at her, no matter how much she wished to put an end to the romantic dry spell she had been experiencing for the past months and get into some good-old verbal sparring. She was grown enough to admit that yes, there was a spark between her and Nick. A physical one, if not a personal one, at least. Unfortunately, Francine Desmond didn't let herself be compromised. The brief and disastrous resurrection of her romance with Jonathan, not to mention her on-and-off affair with Lee, were good enough examples of why business didn't mix with pleasure. Then again, a little teasing here and there never hurt anyone and seeing Nick on his toes was certainly amusing.
"You only have two years, and they couldn't even begin to catch you up with me."
"Then, the sooner we start, the better."
"A lifetime wouldn't be enough, really." Francine concluded as the elevator bell dinged, and they stepped onto the third floor.
Francine audibly gasped as she and Nick set foot on the carpeted office floors. The space was easily double the size of the Q bureau, featuring a spacious and finely decorated reception area, a vault, and one inner office. She delighted at the thought of rubbing all that information in Lee's face the next time she saw him. Of course, she had the minor (ok, maybe a little more than minor) inconvenience of having to share the space with Nick, but that was a price she was willing to pay for the generous raise bump she got, not to mention the chance to mingle with society's cream of the crop while on duty.
"It's really nice, isn't it?" a mousy voice echoed from the far corner of the lobby, as a pretty redhead holding a plant emerged from the vault.
She couldn't have been over twenty-five, with a small face and big green eyes that gave her almost a cartoonish expression, much like the subject of a Margaret Keane painting. Her slender figure was emphasized by a flowery wrap dress tied at the waist by a belt, making her look like the perfect blend of professional and approachable.
"I'm Linda. I mean, miss Thompson." she introduced herself as the trio quickly exchanged greetings.
"I didn't know we were gonna have a secretary, how delightful!" Nick exclaimed, giving the woman an appreciative once-over.
"Executive assistant." she corrected him, before realizing she was still holding her plant. "Oh, I almost forgot. Here."
She unceremoniously shoved the plant in Nick's hands, who in turn, examined its leaves and buried his nose in them.
"It's a silver crown," she explained. "It's for good luck. Fen Shui says it must be placed towards east under the sun. It should be perfect for your office."
Francine opened the office door to take a peek at the locale. "It is a little drab, I suppose."
"What's Fen Shui?" Nick questioned.
"It's an ancient Chinese art." Francine replied, closing back the door. "It consists in arranging your living environment in a way that balances Yin and Yang. I heard it's very trendy right now."
Nick raised a skeptical brow. He fancied himself to be a rational man and found all those pseudo-sciences that had been coming out in the past few years quite silly.
"Thank you very much, miss Thompson." he lied, an exaggerated smile plastered on his face. "What a thoughtful gesture."
"You're welcome. I look forward to assisting you in any way that I can."
"Speaking of which - " Francine jumped in. "Would you be a darling and make us a pot of coffee?"
"Tea for me. One spoonful of sugar." Nick added.
The woman nodded, heading for the area beside her desk where a makeshift kitchenette was setup.
A few minutes later, two steaming mugs were delivered at their respective desks.
Nick turned towards Francine and smirked. "Very nice lady, if not a little odd."
"Don't even think about it." Francine pointed a finger in his direction.
"I didn't do anything." Nick replied innocently, taking a sip of his tea.
Francine on the other hand, blew on her own mug, waiting for the hot liquid to cool off. "Good. Keep it that way."
"Besides, I could never." Nick shook his head and put down the tea. "The girl can't make a cuppa to save her life."
"Tea? that's a deal breaker?"
"Tea is an art. The way it's brewed, the variety, sugar or milk ... it tells more about someone's character than anyone could ever find on a night-long tete-a-tete."
"Seriously?"
"I bet I can guess how you take yours."
"Sure." she snorted.
"Hmmm ..." he studied her for a second, "No sugar, no milk. A flowery variety, perhaps? Strong and decisive, yet feminine and elegant. Correct me if i'm wrong."
"Jasmine." she admitted, without taking her eyes off her paperwork.
Nick smiled, clearly pleased with himself.
"Just a lucky guess." Francine mumbled. "And you have the guts to frown at fen-shui ... I bet you don't believe in astrology either."
"Don't tell me you believe in that? that's folklorist superstition."
"It's not. It's a practice as old as civilization itself. I bet I can guess your sign."
"By all means, wow me."
Francine put a finger under her chin, feigning contemplation.
"Charming, superficial, coquettish … " she narrowed her eyes and paused for effect. " … classic libra."
"Charming, huh?"
"Don't change the subject. I got it right, didn't i?"
"Just a lucky guess." he repeated her words from a couple of minutes before, avoid eye contact by perusing a folder. "You had one in twelve chances to get it right."
"I've dated my fair share of libras. I know them when i see them."
Nick raised his head. "Really? How many?"
"It's hard to tell. I've dated every single sign on the wheel, multiple times, really."
"Hm."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"What?" she insisted.
"It' just, most women wouldn't be so open about having such as, shall we say, colorful, romantic past."
"Does it bother you?" Francine asked, ready to pick a fight.
"On the contrary, i find that kind of honesty refreshing."
"Well, whatever a woman says will be seen as wrong one way or another anyways, there's no pointing in lying, at least for me."
She went back to her paperwork, before lifting her head once again.
"Oh, speaking of lies, that smile you gave Linda was so exaggerated. Nobody needs to see that far into someone's mouth unless they're a dentist. For a con-man, your acting chops are terrible. "
"Former con-man."
"Right." she side-eyed him, before finally taking a sip of her own coffee and recoiling in disgust.
"Coffee bad too?"
"You have no idea."
"You wanna trade?" Nick lifted his cup in her direction.
Francine laughed, shaking her hand, and soon they were both laughing.
